§ 23. Mr. Lindsayasked the Home Secretary who is now to be the sole authority responsible for feeding arrangements in vulnerable areas?
§ Mr. H. MorrisonI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to him by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food on 10th June.
§ Mr. LindsayMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland said there was now one authority in charge of these arrangements, and I should like to know whether that is so?
§ Mr. MorrisonI am not aware of that statement. If my hon. Friend had indicated in his Question who made the statement, I would have looked it up. If that is the line of argument, it would have been convenient if that had been indicated in the Question, because then one could have dealt with it specifically in its context. I cannot deal with the point now, because it is not before me. Broadly speaking, the Ministry of Health runs the rest and feeding centres. The Ministry of Food runs the communal feeding facilities. In so far as it is incidental to the rest and feeding centres, the Ministry of Health looks after the feeding there, but the communal feeding places are the function of the Ministry of Food. I cannot see anything shocking in that, although I appreciate that there can be two arguments upon the matter.
§ Mr. LindsayI thought my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland was speaking with full Cabinet responsibility when he made his reply, otherwise I would have notified the right hon. Gentleman, but the statement is on record, and will he ask his right hon. Friend whether it means something new?
§ Mr. MorrisonCertainly I will. If my hon. Friend had let me know with whom he was debating, I would have checked up with my right hon. Friend. I did not know to which statement he was referring.